There is no quick fix for Sauber’s woes – Gutierrez

Esteban Gutierrez has admitted that the chances of a 2013 style recovery by Sauber in the later half of this season is unlikely, stating that there is no easy fix to the team’s troubles.

Sauber had scored just six points at this stage of the season last year, before a surge in form saw the team add another 51 points – 45 of those from Nico Hulkenberg – to its total before the end of the season.

Having seen Hulkenebrg rejoin Force India over the winter, the Hinwil-based squad is still yet to score in 2014, with a finish of 11th courtesy of Adrian Sutil in Australia still the team’s best result of the year.

Asked if he thought that Sauber could repeat their turnaround of 2013, Gutierrez replied: “It’s going to be a little bit more challenging. At the moment there is not any quick fix to our situation.

“It’s not easy to accept and to realise the position we are in but all the team, every mechanic, every engineer, is doing his best to recover.

“At the moment we are in a position where we are fighting for ourselves.

“I mean I’m fighting basically with my team-mate and that’s the only reference I can have and that’s the only thing I can show from the driver’s point of view.

While the Mexican has never raced at the Red Bull Ring before in his career, he insists that he is looking forward to the challenge, despite not having the opportunity to prepare for the circuit owing to Sauber’s lack of a simulator.

“I heard very good comments from various drivers that it’s a fun track even though it’s quite simple, so I’m really looking forward to it,” he added.

“At the team we don’t have a simulator, so there’s no real preparation for it, but I’ve seen a lot of footage, some data as well, which I’m able to look at and that’s basically it; not much to do.

“I’ll do the track walk later on, pretty slow, to really see every detail on track and enjoy the weekend.

Image courtesy of Octane Photographic

Dan Paddock

Dan Paddock is an FIA accredited freelance motorsport and Formula 1 journalist and the Grand Prix Editor of Richland F1. Dan joined the site in July 2013 as a Staff Writer, fresh off the back of completing a master’s degree in journalism. Following a promotion, Dan has since gone on to represent Richland F1 at four grands prix. Aside from Richland F1, Dan also writes for Rumble Strip News, as well as maintaining his own modest blog.